At Mount Sinai Heart, we recognize that one size does not fit all when it comes to biventricular pacemakers. Many hospitals provide cardiac resynchronization therapy with these devices, but our doctors go to extra lengths. We work to fine-tune the pacemakers so that patients receive maximum benefit.

Avi Fischer, MD, Director of Pacemaker and Defibrillator Therapy and Assistant Professor of Cardiology, founded the Device Optimization Clinic to make sure every patient with a biventricular pacemaker gets personalized adjustments.

Dr. Fischer and W. Lane Duvall, MD, Assistant Professor of Cardiology, calibrate pacemakers as they watch patients' beating hearts. Using echocardiography to visualize the heart, they can optimize the device's pacing.

"Not every hospital does this," says Dr. Fischer. "A lot of doctors just put these devices in and they're done. We try to improve the patients' symptoms by tailoring the device to their particular needs."

The clinic is an example of Mount Sinai Heart's dedication to getting things right for the patient, Dr. Fischer says. "When we tell patients we are going to tweak their settings so the devices work optimally, they see that people are really paying attention to them," he says. "That is what makes Mount Sinai special."